Welcome to the November edition of Greater Manchester Talent Match e-news

Hello , and welcome to the fourth of our monthly e-news updates on the work of Greater Manchester Talent Match. This e-news includes a collection of bitesize news from the huge amount of work the programme has achieved in the past month. You can navigate this update by using the links within the contents below.

#Selfies at the BBC: World of Work Visit
On Thursday 29th October, the BBC in Manchester welcomed Greater Manchester Talent Match young people to a World of Work Visit. The Greater Manchester Talent Match Exclusive event offered a full morning of interactive and fun sessions and workshops that not only highlighted the work of the BBC but also provided information and advice about careers and how to apply. During the event, young people and their Talent Coaches were encouraged to take selfies and share them with Greater Manchester Talent Match. You can click here to view the resulting photoblog.

Talent Coaches find out more about careers at Manchester Airport
On 21st October, Talent Coaches from several host organisations attended “Getting an Airport Job”, an informal opportunity for them to find out more about what's on offer in terms of jobs and training at Manchester Airport. During the event, Talent Coaches found about the huge variety of careers available at Manchester Airport - from retail and customer service, to warehousing, baggage handling, admin and many more. You can read about the event by clicking here.

The Big Conversation is a Greater Manchester Talent Match hosted entertaining event bringing employers and young people together in a meaningful discussion on the issues surrounding youth unemployment.

Goodbye Sue, Hello Liam!
We've had a few staff changes at in the Greater Manchester Talent Match project team in the last month. Firstly, we appointmented Liam Scholes, our new Apprentice Opportunities Hub Administrator, who will be working at New Economy. We also said goodbye to Sue Lewis, our Development Officer for Volunteering & Training, who has got a new job at the British Red Cross. We wish Sue the best of luck in her new role. Recruitment has been held over the last month for the position and we'll let you know the result in the next edition of this e-news.

First meetings of new groups are well attended
The first meeting of the new Steering Group was held in October. The Steering Group provide expert advice, guidance, intelligence and direction regarding complex issues that impact upon the Greater Manchester Talent Match programme. You can see who makes up the new Steering Group on our website. Also in October, our Host Organisation Managers met as a group for the first time. Their meetings provide a space to discuss their experiences of the programme and help shape its future direction.

Group Three Youth Panel evaluation visits
The Youth Panel have carried out their Group Three Host Organisation evaluation visits. They visited 7 organisations in total and interviewed 33 young people on the programme. As a result of the evaluations two young people from The Salford Foundation have shown an interested in joining the Youth Panel. The Youth Panel really enjoy getting around Greater Manchester meeting young people and are looking forward to round four!

Greater Manchester Talent Match gets out and about
The Greater Manchester Talent Match message has been shared far and wide over the last month. Amy, Chair of our Youth Panel spoke at a Conservative Party Fringe event in partnership with Generation Change, talking about her experiences of the programme. We also attended Manchester City Council Economy Scrutiny Committee, Wigan Youth Employment Steering Group and New Economy Local Authority Skills and Employment Leads Meeting to speak about some of the successes of the programme so far.

Every month, we highlight the story of one person involved in Greater Manchester Talent Match, including beneficiaries, Talent Coaches, employers and local organisations. This month, Martin, an ex-offender, overcame an addiction to prescription drugs and anger issues to start working as a trainee chef. You can read about Martin's journey on our website.

Greater Manchester Talent Match is a successful programme that is currently overachieving on its targets. Our new governance structure is working well, having been implemented during October.

Due to the test and learn nature of the programme we are committed to regularly reviewing all aspects of the programme. We are in the process of reviewing our current delivery model and will continue to keep our stakeholders updated on any future commissioning opportunities via this e-news.

The Greater Manchester Talent Match Opportunities Hub is the place to find holistic support, guidance and advice in your journey to being work-ready. New opportunities are added every day including work experience, training, apprenticeships, events and job fairs, volunteering opportunities and more. In this section of the e-news, our Opportunities Hub staff pick their top three current opportunities:

Pre-employment training @ Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport Academy is delivering a course, starting end of November that gives you a Level 1 Award in Customer Service and Level 1 Certificate in Employability skills.

The Young Artists Takeover Project
The Young Artists Takeover at Touchstones, Rochdale is a project running from January to March 2016 giving young artists aged 16-25 the opportunity to explore their practice and create work responding to the museum’s collection, and to use their artistic skills to get involved with volunteering in their community.

Business Admin Apprentice at Bolton at Home
Bolton at Home are offering the opportunity for a numerically minded, ICT literate person with good attention to detail, the chance to train and gain qualifications as an Apprentice in their Accounts Payable team.

The Big Conversation
Don't forget to book onto The Big Conversation, one of the biggest events of the Greater Manchester Talent Match year. Book your place now.

Talent Coach Forum
The next Talent Coach Main Forum will take place on Wednesday 2nd December. All Talent Coaches have now been booked on and we look forward to seeing you all.

Thank you for your continued interest in Greater Manchester Talent Match, we hope that you found this e-news interesting and please do let us know if you have any thoughts on the way we should keep in touch with you.